Pretty Little Wallflower
by Illusion of Dawn
Summary: Moving to Harmonica Town in order to help her grandmother manage the tailoring shop, Candace finds herself challenging more than one quest. A story about fashion, love and personality.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my new story**

**And yes, it is about Candace. Why? In my opinion she is the sweetest character in the whole game and I really don't understand why she is one of the characters that are never mentioned in a story. Also (sorry to say this) it doesn't get into my brain why she's paired up with Julius. Of course I like Julius but in my opinion they just don't fit to each other. Opposites attract, huh? But looking at her cut scenes with him I never felt like they were really made for each other. **

**Anyway, I want to show you why I love her character so much so I decided that I want to give her the credit that she earns.**

* * *

"Are you sure that you're going all on your own?"

"Yes. Don't worry…", she answered as she placed her bag in front of the door. "Just focus on your studies, okay?"

Her sister was leaning against the door frame balancing a pencil on her nose.

"Yeah, yeah, Candy", she moaned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's not like I have the possibility to not focus on them. Mama and papa always remind me of it. You are so lucky to have finished all this!" She flipped her pretty pink hair back and the pencil fell off her nose.

Candace showed a little smile seeing her little sister behaving like always. It gave her confidence that she would be fine by herself for the time being. On the other hand it made her feel somewhat lonely. As soon as her sister noticed that sad gleam in her eyes, she poked her left cheek.

"Ouch!", Candace gasped as she held her hurting cheek.

"Don't make that face!" Her sister held her finger up while her mouth formed a frown. "I'm going to call you every day! So you won't be lonely! Besides, you have Grandma all for yourself while I'm not there!"

Hearing this from her little sister, Candace softly smiled. That was one of the reasons why she loved her little sister so much. Just by looking at her face she was able to read her mind perfectly. Though she was the older one of them, her little sister took over her part as the leader and cared for her in a very own way.

"Thank you, Luna…"

"Yeah, yeah – just go already! I have to study you now." The pink-haired girl pushed her older sister outside. "And tell Grandma I said 'Hey'!" With that Luna slammed the door behind her and locked Candace out of the house.

_She will never get used to goodbyes, will she?_ Candace chuckled, took her bag from the ground and walked down the streets to the market. Typical for a Monday morning the market was filled with different people selling or buying exotic or unique goods. She had always enjoyed it to walk around the ever so busy market for there were so many people wandering from left to right that she felt like she was perfectly melting with them into one big mass.

But this time it was different. This time she had to separate from the mass and the Harvest Goddess knew that she hated this more than anything else.

Carefully she examined the whole market for '_a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes wearing a green shirt, a pair of blue jeans and black boots'_. This was more or less her grandma's description of the person taking her to Harmonica Town. Candace saw a lot of tall men, some wore a green shirt too but there was only one that fitted the description perfectly. She saw him standing in front of a booth looking at some products for animal care.

Slowly she approached him and stopped as she was standing directly behind him. But there was only this one problem left.

_Speak up, Candace! You can do it! Raise your voice!_

She lifted her finger to her head. "E-Excuse…", she whispered but the man didn't notice her and went to another booth. Candace panicked and directly followed him. The man was now taking a look at some vegetables.

"E-Excuse me…", she tried to speak up a little bit. The man put down the tomato he was looking at, turned around and looked at the small girl.

"Oh, excuse me, Miss. I hope I didn't block your way", he smiled, stuffed his hands in his pockets and went away whistling a happy tune.

Candace still stood there with a half opened mouth. Panic now took over the control of her body and she shivered from head to toe.

_Don't give up, Candace! This doesn't mean the end!_ Her inner voice tried to cheer her up. She spun on her heels and hurried after the man.

"Excuse me, sir!", she called after him gaining a lot of attention from some costumers of a small fish booth. The moment she noticed she was actually yelling after him her cheeks flashed bright pink and she abruptly stopped to follow him. Her hands shot up to her mouth, desperately trying to take back those loud words.

The tall man turned around and looked at the girl intensely. He watched her from her bright pink head down to her plain brown shoes. It seemed as something slapped the man's brain for he opened his mouth and a small "Oh" escaped from it.

"You must be… Candace, right?", he carefully asked approaching the blushing girl. "You are Shelly's granddaughter, right?"

She nodded, trying to cover her face with her light blue cardigan. The embarrassment was clearly written on her face. The man scratched his neck and laughed awkwardly. "To be honest, I completely forgot about you. If you didn't call me, I would have travelled all the way back without you." He laughed once more.

_I don't know if I should be happy about this or not…_

"Come on, give me your bag. My cart stands there. Let me quickly take you to your grandma before I forget about that again."

_I'm definitely not happy about that…_

* * *

The tall man – his name was 'Cain' how Candace found out some minutes later – owned a ranch not far away from Harmonica Town. He talked about his life at the ranch, his family and all the people living on Castanet Island. Candace listened to his stories while looking at the beautiful landscape around her. She could see wide green fields, a vast blue sky and the sounds of birds chirping in some apple trees. It was late summer and the apples shone in a beaming red color as they grew bigger every day.

At the horizon she could make out a big windmill and big barn. Cain pointed to it and stated proudly that it was his ranch that could be seen from this distance.

"I'm sorry that I can't take you any further", he said as he stopped the cart next to his barn. "But just follow this path; you'll eventually come to a stone bridge. Cross it and then always go straight forward. You will reach Harmonica Town in no time."

She nodded and bowed politely in front of him. Then she quickly gripped her bag and followed the path Cain had shown her. Once she went far enough and made sure that she was out of his visual field, she took a deep breath and held her chest. She was actually relived that he couldn`t take her any further. She preferred being alone.

After gulping in tons of fresh air she eagerly continued walking and soon found the stone bridge Cain was talking about. After what seemed like hours she finally reached Harmonica Town and was stunned as she saw the bright and colorful houses climbing up a small hill on which a big church seemed to watch over the small town. Not to mention the ocean view. The salty wind playful pulled her blue twin braids and the sound of waves crashing at the cliff made her heart feel at ease.

_The big blue ocean…_ The thought had a soothing effect on her nerves and made her feel so happy that she couldn't help but smile at this view. All her worries, all her sorrow seemed to drown within the sparkling water.

"You're blocking the way."

She flinched at that sudden voice and turned around. A tall young man with strawberry blonde hair stood right behind her. His grew down to his chin and was held back out of his face due to some black clips. His dark purple eyes stared down on her and gave him a stern look. He wore a light blue shirt and a pair of dark blue pants which he covered with an aquamarine apron. Candace looked down to his feet and directly fell in love with his matching blue sandals.

_So beautiful…_, she thought and almost forgot that he was actually a living human being and not just a extremely pretty painting she was looking at.

"Are you deaf? I said you're blocking the way. I can't pass you." His voice made her snap back to reality. Immediately, she took a few steps aside and bowed down politely as an apology.

She prayed to the Harvest Goddess that he wouldn't notice the heat rushing to her cheeks and just pass by. Thanks to her prayers he passed by without saying another word. Carefully she lifted her head and watched after him.

_How pretty… And he seems to like blue, too…_ The edges of her mouth curved into a small smile and the heat in her face cooled off to a mere blush. Her right hand moved to her mouth and touched her lips as her thoughts still danced around the image of the pretty young man.

Happily in thoughts she took her bag and walked to the Center of Harmonica Town where she directly found the lovely little shop 'Sonata Tailoring'. Although her grandmother had told her the shop's name Candace would have known it was hers even without knowing the name. She could see her grandma's favorite flowers blooming next to the door and the big sign had the beautiful curvy handwriting of her that she had adored even since she was a small child.

How long has it been since she had seen her grandmother the last time? One year? Two years? It didn't matter to her. The only thing he cared about right now was giving her a big hug.

Without any hesitation she went to the shop's door and opened it. She instantly heard a bell ringing above her head and her sight wandered around the store. That was when her mouth nearly dropped to the floor. The store was completely empty! No cute dresses, no formal suits, no fancy accessories – nothing. Completely emptiness in here. Just a bunch of white furniture: some table, a few shelves and a blank counter.

"I'm sorry but we are closed", she heard her grandmother say and within a minute the old lady stood in front of her. "Oh, it is you, Candace! Just come in, come in!" A radiant smile placed itself on the old lady's face and she eagerly pulled her granddaughter into the empty store. As usual she wore a pink bandana which tamed the big and fluffy silver braid underneath it. Her emerald eyes sparkled behind the round glasses. Compared to Luna, one could clearly see that Candace was Shelly's granddaughter. They both seemed to prefer the same kind of clothes. A long cardigan – for Shelly in yellow, for Candace of course in blue – and a long skirt which reached their ankles – Shelly chose a green polka-dotted skirt and Candace a checked blue skirt. Surprisingly they both wore the same kind of shoes which surprised Candace herself.

"Did you have a nice trip here? I hope Cain didn't forget to pick you up! He forgets a lot of things lately. But well, who wouldn't in this situation?"

"G-Grandma… why is your shop… empty?" Candace's aqua eyes widened as she looked at her grandmother. The old lady frowned and the signs of age showed in her face more clearly than ever.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the whole truth before…"

Candace remembered the desperate phone call from her grandmother stating that she was too old to run the shop on her own and that she needed the help of her two granddaughters. Since Candace was old enough to leave and interested in fashion anyway, she directly agreed on moving to her grandmother. Luna, however, first had to finish her studies until she could fly off to a new town. Candace had known that her grandmother was desperate. But she never would have thought that she would be _that_ desperate.

"I have to admit that Castanet Island has seen far better times. Suddenly all possible things went completely wrong. The fish went away which caused a downfall for the fishers and stopped the transport of any goods, the fire isn't hot enough to cook anything, the wind rarely blows and nothing will grow out of our soil anymore. As you can imagine this all means a loss of goods for my shop, too. The people aren't interested in fashion these days. We have for bigger problems right now."

Candace could see some tears sparkling in her grandmothers emerald eyes.

Oh, how she hated to see her grandma like that. Instinctively, she laid her hand on her shoulder and comforted her.

"Why didn't you tell us about this? I'm sure that if you spoke about this with Mother and Father, they would have directly let you stay our place."

"It's not about where to stay, my dear", her grandma Shelly sniffed. "I don't want to leave this land. I'm not sure if you can understand my reasons but once you lived here as long as me you simply cannot leave your home just because of some problems. I cannot give up everything and leave it all behind. And I'm sorry that I dragged you into this, too, my dear. I was just so desperate that I couldn't think of anything else anymore."

"It's okay, grandma", Candace smiled. "How about some tea?"

* * *

It took her quite a while to make her grandmother calm down again but in the end they agreed on thinking of something after taking a good nap. Now Candace was lying in her bed and stared to the ceiling.

_Is there anything I could do?_ This thought kept on bouncing around in her mind. She didn't want to see her grandmother this sad anymore. This shop was something like a child to her and she just couldn't give it up this easily. On the other hand Candace was afraid of Luna's reaction once she saw this empty store.

Candace knew that her sister wouldn't yell or get mad but she would definitely get annoyed. Especially when Candace didn't tell her about this situation... But telling her would only distract her from her studies and this was something Candace wouldn't dare do. It was hard enough to make her study anyway. She let a deep sigh escape her mouth and pulled the blanket over her head.

After what seemed to her like seconds the blanket was pulled off and sunlight hit her face.

"Morning, Candace!", she heard the happy voice of Shelly. "I just had the perfect idea! Come on, dress yourself. I'll meet you in the shop!"

* * *

"What is it?" Candace moved her left hand to her mouth and yawned. A little tear sparkled in her left eye as she closed them.

"I remembered that I still have some cloth in storage." The old lady took out a piece of brilliant sapphire blue cloth and passed it to her granddaughter. "Flower print, polka-dots… with these we can create a whole new produce line!"

"This sounds great!", Candace smiled and looked at the cloth piece. "But who is going to design the new outfits?"

"You, my dear."

"Eh?" She nearly dropped the cloth as her sight shot up to her grandmother. "Me? But I can't! I didn't know what to make out of these!"

"Candace, honey, I know you since you were a little child and I can assure you that you have a great talent sleeping within you. It just needs to shine, my dear."

"I dunno…" Candace's aquamarine eyes looked nervously to the ground. Designing? She? No way! Right?...

"I won't push you. It's your decision but I'm sure you would do great if you just tried it." Shelly tried to comfort her with a lovely smile. She carefully patted her granddaughter's head.

"Would you do me a favor and go to Brownie Ranch? I ordered some yarn but my back hurts too much for me to go and pick it up."

"Of course, I'll go", Candace said and went to the door of the shop.

"Do you actually know where you have to go to?", Shelly asked and rose an eyebrow. Candace stopped, her hand already on the door knob. She turned around and her cheeks turned pretty pink.

"N-No…", she stuttered.

"It's Cain's ranch, honey", Shelly chuckled. Candace bit her under lip and quickly went outside before she'd die out of embarrassment. But seeing the brilliant ocean as she walked outside, she soon relaxed and went with a small smile the way she went just yesterday. It was early in the morning and nobody seemed to walk through the streets yet.

_Perfect!_ Her smile grew wider as she crossed the bridge connecting Harmonica Town with the rest of Castanet Island. A few birds sang a happy melody inside some trees. Candace enjoyed this rare sight. Back in her hometown she would never hear birds sing in the morning for there were always people talking and making noise as they walked through the streets. But the countryside always pleased her more than the city.

Being alone and free while enjoying the silent atmosphere was a feeling that Candace rarely experienced in the city. Thinking about this Luna might get bored pretty fast once she got here.

Suddenly she bumped into somebody and nearly fell backwards on her butt if she didn't find her balance again. As she looked up to see what she ran into her stare froze as she looked up into a pair of purple eyes. Pretty annoyed-looking eyes. The pretty boy she met yesterday held a big bag before his chest. Due to the fact that Candace was so small an only reached his chest he didn't saw her. Not to mention the fact that Candace knew that she had the ability to perfectly fuse with her environment.

"Geez", the young man sighed and a frown placed on his forehead. "Is it your hobby to stand in other people's way?"

Candace quickly shook her head not able to look him again in his eyes. She hoped that her fringe was able to hide her blushing face or at least her eyes. She never liked having eye contact with people.

"At least look at me when I'm talking to you."

Candace nodded, still not looking him in the eyes.

"And just don't nod at everything." The boy got more and more annoyed the longer he looked at that strange girl. With a loud groan he passed her by and walked away, giving up on the one-sided conversation.

Candace didn't move a muscle. Her heart was beating so fast that she feared that it would explode any minute.

"Yo, are you okay?" Another voice rang in her ears and she slowly looked up. A pair of golden eyes together with a big, white grin greeted her. In front of her stood a young man with messy dark blue hair which he tried to tame with white bandana printed with red flames. Ripped, blue jeans, black boots, a ripped white shirt and an armless brown leather jacket that fitted to his mittens – Candace was fascinated by his style.

Remembering that she has been asked something, she quickly nodded.

"I've never seen you around before. The name's Luke. My dad owns the Cornet Carpentry in the Garmon Mines District. And who are you?"

Candace opened her mouth and whispered: "…Candace…"

"What did ya say? Didn't get it."

"Candace", she whispered a bit louder.

"Speak up a bit I can't understand you if you mumble something!", he laughed and rested a big axe on his shoulder.

"…Candace…" This time she tried really hard to speak up and the young carpenter understood her.

"Candace, huh? Sweet! Oh, reminds me!" He slapped his hand on his forehead. "You looked a little bit lost. Are you looking for something?"

"I-I wanted to go to the Brownie Ranch and-"

"Brownie Ranch! I know the way. It's just over there. I can show you if you want to!"

"Actually I know…"

"Great!", he smiled and flashed and even bigger grin than before. "My old man wants me to buy some milk anyway. Good that I met you otherwise I had to go the way twice. And that's a pretty long way, you know. Do you know where the Garmon Mines District is?"

She shook her head. He laughed rubbed his nose with his finger. "It's at the entrance of the Garmon Mines. I'd say Harmonica Town lies at the foot of the mountain while our shops are at the belly of the mountain. Yeah, that kinda fits. There are a lot of shops, by the way! A general store, a jeweler…"

It was hard for her to follow up with the young man. Not only that he had longer legs than her but he also spoke pretty fast and never seemed to breath. Though Candace really had to focus on what he was saying, she enjoyed it somehow. Not the company since she preferred it to be alone. She never walked right next to a guy and it was for her an unpleasant, shocking feeling but she didn't mind him chatting about this and that. As long as she could just listen and nod once in a while she was absolutely happy.

"See, that's Brownie Ranch!" Luke pointed to the ranch Candace already knew. He turned 90 degrees and pointed at a big house surrounded by empty fields. "This is the Marimba farm but right know they have problems with their crops. This house there" – he pointed to a small house next to the Marimba Farm – "that's Chase house. I don't know if you already met him but he works at the Brass Bar. I so love the Coconut Cocktail they sell there! It's so yummy!"

Candace moved her hands to her mouth and pressed them on her lips.

"This house belongs to Julius. He works at the jeweler where I live. He is kinda weird, ya know. Oh, but don't tell him I told you! Man, he would go all crazy about me! You-" He turned to Candace and saw her desperately pressing her hands on her mouth. "What'cha doing?" He gave her a confused look, his lips forming a tight line as he stared at the small girl next to him.

Then he heard a little chuckle. Faint but still noticeable. Suddenly his lips curved to a wide smile as he realized that this chuckle escaped out of her mouth.

"Why are you laughing?", he asked while grinning himself.

"I-I'm sorry", she breathed and lowered her head so he couldn't see her eyes anymore. She then slowly dropped her hands a little and Luke could see a lovely smile behind her fragile fingers. Instantly his grin grew wider.

"You don't have to be sorry!", he laughed. "I'm glad that I can make you laugh! You don't have to hide it."

The innocent, happy guy that he was he walked towards the brownie Ranch directly followed by Candace who had a hard time hiding her blushing face.

* * *

**This was the first chapter of my new story**

**I really, really love her shy attitude, right Candy?  
**

**Candace: I dunno...**


	2. Chapter 2

_I can't do it..._ She looked up from the empty sheet of paper in front of her. Next to this empty sheet were a lot of pencils, crayons and a no-so-big-anymore rubber. _I just don't know what to do with those cloth! Luna would already have an idea. She's a genius when it comes to fashion… I'm just good at sewing, that's all…_

Her blue eyes met the clock hanging upon the wall of the kitchen. Her grandmother went over to the Brass Bar to buy some food since they worked the whole day to organize everything that was left in the small shop. Old summer hats, never-used scarfs and plain old dresses – which Candace would have loved to taken if they were blue but unfortunately, they were red.

_Almost 8 pm… _Her stomach let out a loud grumble. The only thing about her that could actually get people's attention.

Suddenly she heard the front door's bell ringing. Quickly she went to the door, expecting her grandmother standing in the door frame with some food but to her surprise Luke was standing there. He had his back turned to her so he didn't see her. Together with another boy – a rather small one (still taller than her) with ash blonde hair and big, round eyes which remembered her of fresh grass – they carried a large white table through the door. Unfortunately, the table was too big for the door frame.

"Did you made it to measure?", the small boy asked and took his white headband off.

"Sure", Luke answered scratching his chin. "I checked it even twice. Three feet and five inches a side, right?"

The small boy flinched and slapped his forehead. "No! That one was for the mayor! It had to be exactly three feet a side! No wonder that we can't get through."

"Do you think we should just cut those five inches off?", Luke asked.

"I don't know. Won't Dale kill us if we just cut it off? I mean it would look horrible…"

"Yeah, but then we have to carry it all the way back home, and making a new one."

"Huh? Don't we just adjust everything?"

"Nah, this has the perfect size for the mayor. We're just going to paint it brown and then everyone is all happy. We just have to sneak out again…"

The small boy looked up and met Candace's eyes. "Uh-oh… busted!"

Luke spun around, eyes round as plates.

"Geez", he moaned as he saw her. "I thought my plan was perfect! You've seen nothing, okay?"

Candace nodded. The small boy leaned forward to Luke and whispered something in his ear.

_Is he shy, too?_ This thought gave her a warm and calming feeling.

"Oh, sorry that I didn't introduce you. This is Bo, he's my dad's apprentice just like me!" The small boy bowed down politely. "Nice to meet you! Are you Shelly's granddaughter?"

"What? Her granddaughter?!", Luke looked from her to Bo. Candace nodded shyly. "Man how did you know?"

"If you'd listen to our customers once in a while you would have known that Shelly said that her granddaughter wanted to move to her. Besides, they both look alike."

Luke stared Candace, observing her from head to toe. She didn't like that feeling that rose inside of her. Why wouldn't he just look away? She hated it too be looked at.

"Yeah, you're right. They look like twins!"

_Noooooooo! I'm not that old!_

Her head dropped to the floor. Bo recognized this and punched Luke's arm. "Geez, you hurt her!", he whispered in his ear. "Saying that she and her grandmother look like twins!"

"But I didn't mean it like that!", he gasped. "I've seen pictures of Shelly when she was younger. She was a really pretty girl!"

"Then make clear what you mean before you hurt someone's feelings", Bo sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Sometimes I wonder who`s the older one of us…"

"Hey, look, I didn't mean it as an offense", Luke smiled awkwardly. "I just say what's on my mind without thinking about it any further. I'm sorry."

"I-It's okay…", she mumbled. "I'm used to it…"

"What did ya say?"

"N-Nothing", she tried to smile. Luke frowned, doubting the truthfulness in her words. However, he let it be and put on a happy smile instead. With that he faced Bo and put his hands on his waist.

"Let's get the table back home!", he threw his right fist in the air.

"Naaaw, can we at least use the mine cart this time?"

"No!", Luke still smiled. "In order to become a good carpenter you have to gain more muscles! I don't see any muscles on your chicken arms! Now come on, this table won't move on its own." With a loud groan, Bo put his hands under the table and "One, two, threeee!" the table was up in the air again.

"Bye, bye Candace!", Luke waved goodbye as they walked down the street. Candace went to the door and watched after them. "Bye…"

Suddenly a word came back to her mind. _Pretty… did he mean that I am… pretty?_ Her pink lips curved into a lovely smile and her eyes narrowed to a gentle glance. _I am pretty?_

* * *

"I'm back", Shelly said as she went inside the kitchen. "Oh my, you seem to be quite busy!" She laughed as she looked at the pictures scattered all over the table.

"I'm sorry that it took me so long. The fire just wouldn't want to get hot enough." She placed the dishes on the counter and turned around to Candace. The small girl didn't even look up nor did she seem to have noticed her grandmother's presence at all. The pencil quickly danced around the paper, her eyes constantly following the lines.

A silent chuckle escaped Shelly's mouth. It's been a long time since she saw her granddaughter being so deep in thought. Out of curiosity she picked one of the finished designs up and looked at it. Her eyes narrowed to a gentle glance.

_Lovely… just what I expected from her…_

She heard Candace flinch. Shelly immediately looked up from the design. The small girl stared at her grandmother agape.

"Oh, sorry", Shelly laughed and put the design back to its place. "I was just curious. Sorry for shocking you. What would you like for dinner: Bouillabaisse or tomato stew?"

At once the phone rang.

"That's Luna!", screamed Candace and ran to the yellow phone quickly picking up the receiver. "Hello?... Hey, Luna… what about studying?... But didn't mama say- … yes… I dunno… maybe… okay…"

Shelly chuckled. "Tell her I said 'Hey'!" Candace nodded eagerly. "Grandmother said 'hey' to you." She turned back to her grandmother. "Luna wants to say 'Hey', too and that she can't wait to come over, too."

"That`s great, my dear", smiled Shelly. While her granddaughter was busy talking on the phone, she quickly picked some of the papers on the desk and hid them under her cardigan. Candace - who didn't notice what her grandma was up to - happily listened to the story of her sister. Something about a guy totally getting on her nerves but who seemed to be quite interested in her. Though she wasn't interested in this story, Candace simply enjoyed hearing Luna's voice.

"I'm taking a stroll, my dear" Shelly approached the door to the shop, one eye on the clock the other one on the door. "Don't wait for me. It's probably getting late."

"S-Sure." Candace was rather confused about her grandma's odd behavior. She never left the house at this time neither did she leave her meal untouched. But Candace was too busy trying to follow Luna's speech so she simply shrugged and put her tomato stew inside the microwave.

* * *

Shelly paced towards the mine cart behind the church. The moon blossomed about her head and dipped her way into a pleasant light. Luckily, her eyes weren't so bad yet and she could quickly go the stairs down leading to the small cart. With a pretty impressive jump (considering her age) she placed herself in the mine cart, grabbed the old lever dashed through the tunnel.

The cart passed a waterfall, a lot of caves and tunnels and stopped in front of a big wall. Garmon Mine District. Her green eyes wandered around the little shopping street. A dim light came out of the windows of the buildings letting her know that all the owners had already closed their shops. It was common to settle up a shop in its own house just like she did. Her eyes met the accessory store. A bright light still flashed out of the windows and Shelly could see the person she was looking for walking around the store. She smirked, jumped out of the cart and made her way to the white building with its enormous sign showing a golden ring with a brilliant emerald on top.

Even before she could knock at the door, a young man with long purple hair opened it.

"I saw you from afar", he smiled though she knew that it was only forced. She didn't dwell on it for she was aware of the situation he was put into.

"How is Mira doing?" Her words hit the point. The man frowned, finally letting out a deep sigh.

"Worse, I'd say. No matter how hard I try to convince her to take over the store, she'll only refuse. Take a look. It's empty in here…" He stood with his hands on his hips and threw his face to the side pointing to the empty shelves.

"Not better than my shop, I guess", she smiled frowning.

"No, don't tell me!", he gasped. "Your shop, too? I knew that it was bad but I never imagined it to be this bad!"

"Well, well… at least there's something that can be done about it, right?"

"What do you mean?" The young man narrowed his eyes intensifying his ruby eyes by his blue eye shadow.

"Take a look", she handed one of the designs - she secretly took away from Candace - over. The man's eyes wandered around the paper, snorting here and there. Shelly observed his reaction carefully.

"Those aren't your designs", he simply ended his analysis.

"Exact. They are the ones done by my granddaughter."

"I'm really sorry to say it like this, Shelly, but those are horrible. The colors are boring, the shape is plain, the whole outfit cries 'Kill me with fire'!" He clapped his hand against the paper. "I don't see fire, I don't see passion in here!"

"Exactly", Shelly nodded. "Take a look at this one." She gave him another one of her designs. Julius raised any eyebrow. What was Shelly up to showing around her granddaughter's bad taste in fashion? This totally contrasted the lovely old lady he had known for a long time now. However, he took a look at the other design. The moment his eyes met the paper, he was stunned.

"What do you think?" Shelly's voice reached his ear.

"What I think?", he gasped. "That's a whole new level! Finally there are colors! And not only that: look at those lines! The shape – interesting, the patterns – wild! She created an image, something that tells me something about the person who's going to wear it!" He took another look. "Strange, it somehow reminds me of that young carpenter living next door…" Julius lifted his head and gazed at a smirking old lady. "You wanted me to react like this, am I right?"

"Maybe", she grinned. "Just tell me what you think of her designs."

"Obviously, she was drunk while making the first design. I've never seen such a huge gap between fashion – " He pointed to the last one he received "and this junk over here" He hold up the first one he received. "All she needs is advice and she'll probably be a good designer in the future."

"That's exactly what I was thinking", Shelly nodded wisely.

"Great. So why did you show me these although you already made a decision on your own?"

"As you said she needs advice. Probably from somebody who has a decent sense for fashion."

"Correct."

"This person must know what the customers are seeking for."

"Absolutely."

"And he must be a genius when it comes to lecturing someone."

"I totally agree with you."

"I'm pleased to hear this, Julius. So you're going to be her tutor, then?"

"Wait what?" He looked at her dumbfounded, eyes as round as plates.

"I've always thought that you were into fashion", she pointed to his red leather jacket, the peacock patterned scarf around his black pants which ended in a pair of creamy boots. "Guess I was wrong…" Julius bit the inside of his cheeks. "Okay, fine!", he moaned. "I'll do it! I'll do it! But who's going to watch the store while I'm gone?"

Shelly took a look around. "Darling, even if somebody was going to intrude inhere, what should he steal? Dust?"

"But what about Mira? Somebody has to look after her!"

"Mira is all grown-up. She can handle herself. She'll be fine", she waved and grinned at him. "Tomorrow. 9 am. I'll be waiting for you!" Saying this, she left the store, leaving a dumbfounded Julius behind.

* * *

He couldn't believe he was really about to do this. Standing in front of the pink building called the 'Sonata Tailoring' he really wanted to turn around and go back to bed. It was chilly this morning and a hard wind pulled his hair up in the air. Autumn was about to arrive. Taking a deep breath he opened the door.

A bell rang and he stood inside of the empty shop. Shelly didn't lie as she described the shop's condition. It wasn't really any better than the accessory store.

"I-I'm sorry, we're closed right now…" A quiet voice reached his ear and he looked around. Nobody was to be seen.

_Great. Now I'm hearing voices…_

"E-Excuse me…" There it was again. _I should just go back to bed again…_ He was about to turn around as something clung to his jacket. Lowering his sight he saw a small girl with ice blue hair parted into twin braids. Guessing from her outfit this could only be the creator of the first crappy design.

"You must be Shelly's granddaughter, I suppose?" He lifted his eyebrow, only to receive a nod from the shy girl.

"My name is Julius. I work –" he bit his lip "_worked_ at the accessory store at Garmon Mines District. Shelly told me to teach you how to design outfits."

The small girl met his gaze, revealing her big aquamarine eyes which she had successfully hidden behind her fringe so far.

_She's quite pretty_, he thought. _Unbelievable that she walks around in these clothes! She looks like an old lady!_

"Y-You're teaching me?", she asked slowly. Julius nodded. "Yes. It is about time that somebody tells you something about fashion, dear!" He pointed to her shoes, pulling his eyebrows down. "Where did you get these from? A retirement home? And look at this skirt! Do you always borrow your grandma's clothes?"

The small girl locked down on herself, hiding her eyes from him again.

"And what's that stupid attitude to hide your eyes? How old are you?"

Suddenly the girl's body started shaking.

_Maybe you went too far, Julius…_ Guilt rose inside of his mind and he kind of regretted to have said those horrible things to her /though he was absolutely sure that it was the truth).

"Look, I've said too much. But if you'd just change yourself a little bit you'd probably make better designs and - "

"I don't want to…", she whispered.

"Sorry?"

"I said I don't want to…" At once she looked him straight in the face. Her eyes were misty, her cheeks pink and her lips trembling. To his surprise she didn't look sad or whiny at all. A fiercy look was painted all over her face. Julius flinched as he saw this. Not lasting a minute, her head dropped again and she dashed out of the store. The bell rang and a loud bang echoed in his ears as she slammed the door behind her.

"Oh my" He heard Shelly's voice coming from the kitchen. "Did he get all jumpy again?"

_ No. This time it's not me._

* * *

_What a jerk! _She tromped through the streets while kicking some stones that passed her way. _That cross-dresser shouldn't judge about other people's style while he clearly has none either! Looking so exaggerated as if he was dying to get people's attention!_

"Having a bad day, huh?" she heard a voice calling out to her. Immediately she looked up. A girl with a blonde ponytail and wild green eyes hold a broom in her hand and swept the dust off the door sill.

_How pretty!_, Candace thought as she gazed at the tall girl. Brown cowboy boots showed her long legs off which were also being complimented by her red skirt. Seeing the tiny skirt made her already blush. Candace would never have the courage to wear such an exposing thing! Looking at her naked belly and the light blue shirt which she casually knotted in front of her chest made her bust size appear larger than it actually was. A feather necklace and feather earrings gave her outfit the final touch.

_I've never seen somebody playing with her curves so efficiently…_

The blonde girl looked up to the sky.

"Too bad it's so early… otherwise I would have treated you to a drink. How about some tea instead?"

A little smile appeared on the small girl's face as she shyly nodded.

"So", the girl said as they sat down in front of the orange building called 'Brass Bar'. Candace found this place to be quite charming. On the window benches stood flower pots with sunflowers in it adding a summer feeling to the outer appearance of the bar. "Mind telling me who you are?"

"I-I'm Candace", she whispered.

"Oh, so you're Shelly's granddaughter! She visit our bar yesterday and talked a lot about you!" Candace's face instantly lit up like a candle. Seeing this, Kathy couldn't help but chuckle. "She also mentioned that you are a rather shy girl. I don't mind shy girls. Better than those noisy, annoying brats. By the way, I'm Kathy. My father owns this bar."

Kathy again looked to the sky. "Honestly, it's such a shame to be all grumpy on this day! It might be a little bit colder than yesterday but I can't wait for autumn to arrive! I love the colorful leaves during that time! Especially when you're riding a horse, there couldn't be a better view!" A smile grew on her face and she closed her eyes. "So don't worry. Whatever depresses you, it will change its colors soon. You can either wait for it or change them yourself."

Candace looked up to her in awe. She never met such a pretty and friendly girl before. Taking a sip of her tea, Candace nearly screamed as her hands moved to her burned lips.

"Whoops, didn't warn you. The tea is still quite hot", Kathy scratched her chin while smiling awkwardly.

* * *

The bell rang again and Julius jumped to his feet. He was sitting at the kitchen table as Shelly served him some tea.

"That's her!", he said and went to the door leading to the shop.

"Just don't make her run away again", Shelly warned, not hiding the smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, Candace!", he apologized as he went towards the small girl.

"Teach me", she simply said.

"Huh?" His mind went completely blank as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. Suddenly it hit him like a rock.

"I want you to teach me how to design properly, please", she bowed down. Confused by this sudden reaction, Julius flinched. "What did you just say?"

"Please", she said once again, adding in a lower voice: "I want to change the colors myself.**"**


	3. Chapter 3

„No! You're doing it wrong! Seriously you can't mix stripes with dots! Honestly, this looks terrible. Put out some more colors. You're using this one crayon now for over five designs!" Julius slapped his forehead, taking a deep breath to control his temper.

"I… I'm sorry", she mumbled, reaching out for another crayon. "NO!", he screamed, hitting her hand softly. "Those colors don't work together. It looks like somebody puked all over this dress! Come on, give me the pencil. I'm going to show you how it's done." He pulled one of the chairs closer and sat right next to her. Grabbing a dark pencil he began to scribble all over an empty sheet.

To her surprise, Candace didn't mind him being so close to her. Mostly because she still thought that he was a woman who happened to have a deeper voice than usual. Her eyes followed the pencil ash the design began to form itself in front of her eyes.

"…That's no dress", she mumbled.

"Correct", he sighed. "It's a bracelet. Most of the rules for clothes work for jewelry, too since we speak about fashion in general. See, I had a clear image of what it was going to be before I started drawing. I didn't mix any gems, I only took those which harmonize with each other. For example, I didn't add sapphires and a ruby. Both of them stand out on their own. They would just fight against each other in order to attract people. Balance and harmony are important words that you should memorize." Candace looked at the silver bracelet. The silver curled around the wrist he drew and reminded her of ivy. A big rose out of small sapphires formed the center of the bracelet, while small sodalities were added to the curves of the silver giving it an image of small buds.

"It's beautiful", she smiled. Seeing her smile like this – a lovely, appreciating smile – Julius nearly lost his voice.

"Of course it is beautiful", he coughed. Suddenly an idea struck his head. "I'll give you a task. Create something that harmonizes with this bracelet. No, even more: make something that makes this bracelet shine! That's it for today. I'm leaving." He stood up and stretched his tired arms.

"But remember: it has to match the bracelet. Think of a story. Where would you want to wear this bracelet? For which occasion? See you tomorrow!", he lifted his hand and walked out of the kitchen. Candace looked back to the design of the bracelet. If it was her, she would probably never wear this bracelet. Only the thought of eventually losing or breaking it gave her a guilty feeling. But she knew that there were a lot of people wearing them for special occasions. Her mother once wore a ruby necklace on her aunt's wedding when Candace was still a child.

_So what about a wedding dress?_ She almost heard Julius yelling at her again. The wedding dress is the most important dress in a woman's life. Making it simple for the bracelet's sake would be a no-go. Candace hit her head on the table. She was exhausted, tired and frustrated. For the past couple of days, Julius constantly nagged about each and every design she created.

Her grandmother was no big help either. Always saying how glad she was that Julius helped her out didn't really make it any better. Despite her grandmother constantly praising Julius, Luna wasn't even a bit interested in what Candace went through. But she couldn't really blame her. That girl was busy studying and had no time to chit-chat about her big sister's problems.

_Maybe I should just take a little stroll._

Autumn finally arrived and the weather changed every passing hour from sunny to rainy. Right now it was sunny and Candace decided to give it a chance going out without an umbrella. Well, it was not like she wanted to stay outside forever. Just a tiny little stroll to clear her mind.

_So cold…_ she thought, wrapping her dark blue jacket around her body. The sun was already setting and darkness slowly crawled up the town. Looking at the orange building, it was almost time for the bar to open. Since she first met Kathy, she was impressed by her. The tomboy said what she was thinking, casually chatted with costumers and simply seemed to enjoy her life.

She walked up the hill to the Celesta Church. The multiple stairs leading towards the big white sacral building. The first time she ever set her foot upon the Celesta Plaza, Candace fell in love with the beautiful church. The colorful, pretty windows, the big clock tower reaching out for the sky – she found herself visiting the church every now and then. But one thing that she loved the most about the Celesta Plaza was the round balcony-like ledge. From there one could perfectly watch the ocean.

Candace used to spend some hours there just gazing at the marvelous ocean. This time, however, somebody already claimed this unique place. Jeans, a black shirt and a claret apron covered the tall boy of a familiar strawberry-blonde guy.

Fortunately, his back faced her so she decided to carefully sneak away. Unfortunately, the boy quickly noticed the presence of the small girl. Turning around he directly looked into her eyes. A little squeal escaped her mouth, hands automatically moving to her lips as if she tried to take back that little scream of her.

"Am I that scary?", asked the boy and his eyebrows formed a tight line. "You know, I should be the one scared for being stared at like this."

Her head dropped to her chest and she started playing with her fingers. The more time passed, the more the guy got annoyed. "At least tell me your name so that I can go to Hamilton to complain about your stalkerish behavior."

"C-Candace", she stuttered, directly regretting what she had said. _No! Why did you tell him? Now he will go to the mayor and complain about you! You always shut up but why – of all times – do you have to speak when you're supposed to be silent?_ She buried her face in her hands. The guy saw her mental struggle and sighed.

"That was just a joke. Calm down, already", he sighed. Once Candace heard this, she breathed out and relaxed a little bit.

_Just a joke_, she thought. But for an unknown reason her heart wouldn't still stop racing. Nor would the red on her cheeks vanish.

"You live with Shelly, huh? I heard you suck at designing though."

_Julius!_ She mentally cursed the violet-haired guy. _Only he would go around telling this!_

But no matter how much she hated him for going around and telling this, she still hated the fact more that it was actually true. She really did suck. Julius told her all the time and since her grandmother decided her to take lessons, the truth as undeniable.

The guy noticed how down she was about hearing this. He raised an eyebrow while watching her reaction. Her head was still pointed to the ground, her hands covering her face but between those fragile fingers he could still see the aquamarine of his eyes. And in her eyes was a sad glimmer that reminded him of the ocean.

"If you hate it so much – being bad at it, I mean – then why don't you just change that?"

As if she refused to change it! But no matter what she did, Julius would just nag and grumble like a maleficent old hag. Oh, how much she wished for her sister to take over the designing already!

Candace didn't say anything and the guy almost gave up on hearing an answer from her, as her hands finally fell down to her hips and her mouth opened.

"I can't", she mumbled. "I'm just not good…"

"If you keep on moaning about it, then you're right. You're not good at all. You should probably go home and tell your grandma that you want to quit everything. Go pack your stuff and ask Cain to bring you back home. I'm sure your grandmother doesn't want a spoiled, little child who constantly complains about everything to help out with her shop. If you're tired of playing around, then already go home. We'd all appreciate it, anyway."

"I don't think that this is a game!" She raised her head and the sadness in her eyes switched to determination. "My grandmother knows that I'm giving my very best at everything! And she knows that I would never leave her alone in a situation like this! I can't just quit everything! She trusts me and I simply can't disappoint her!" She breathed hard after she had yelled all these things out loud. She wondered if he could hear the loud and fast beating of her heart.

"Then what are you waiting for?", he smirked. "Shouldn't you go back home and try harder?"

As fast as she switched from defense to offense, she got all shy again and hid her eyes behind her fringe. The red on her cheek intensified as she bowed down politely, turned on her heels and ran back to the stairs leading to Harmonica Town.

"Geez", he sighed, scratching his neck. "What a strange girl."

* * *

_He is right!_ She spoke to herself. _If I just moan about everything, I won't improve! At first I thought that it would be easy – just a little bit of training – but it's not as simple as this. I love fashion! And it's time that I should show this!_

Filled with these thoughts she reached the shop in time before the clouds decided to pour down some water.

"I'm back!", she called hanging her jacket next to the door. Without waiting for an answer she went back to the kitchen where everything was exactly like she had left it. Except for Shelly sitting at the table knitting a pink scarf.

"Did you go out for some fresh air?", she smiled knowingly. "It really cooled down recently. Make sure to wear a warm jacket while walking outside." She smirked as she looked into her granddaughter's face. "I can tell that something wonderful happened to you, my dear."

"Huh?"

"If you didn't notice it: your lovely smile and that blush on your face make you really pretty. So tell me, who was it?"

Her face quickly went completely red and it was almost a miracle that no steam came off her head.

"I'm just teasing you", Shelly laughed and put the scarf down she was working at. "Anyway, I'm taking a nap. Don't put an all-nighter and go to bed in time!"

Candace watched her grandma leaving the kitchen as she sat down at the table.

_Okay!_ _Now focus on what Julius told you! You can do that!_ She took a glance at the design of the bracelet as suddenly an idea struck her head. Immediately, she began to move the pencil around an empty piece of paper, not even looking up once for the next couple of hours.

* * *

"Good", Julius said and put the design down.

"W-What? That's all you have to say?" Candace's hands balled to fists. She tried so hard yesterday and was so proud of her own design!

"Well, the shape of the dress is nice. It looks elegant and feminine. I guess somebody would wear it for a formal dinner party. But it doesn't put the bracelet in the focus. You did a great mistake by adding the blue stripe to the border. This distracts the eyes."

She dropped her head.

_No way! And here I thought that it was my best work so far!_

"But it is way better than everything you did before", he said. Though he didn't refer to her fantastic work that Shelly had shown him once at the accessory store, he really meant it. "I see you finally took my advice into account. Of course you still need to learn a lot but you're on the right track."

Her pink lips flashed a white smile and her aquamarine eyes sparkled.

_If she only wouldn't walk around like her grandma!_, Julius thought and let out a deep sigh.

Suddenly the phone rang and Candace jumped up, running towards the yellow receiver as if her life depended on it.

"Luna… Hey… How are you? I-I'm fine." The most lovely smile that Julius had ever seen spread on her pink lips. He turned his head away and avoided the confused look she was giving him.

_This is bad_, he thought while calming his heart. _I have to get out of here at once!_

"Bye Candace. I've got some business to attend!", he lied, jumping to the door.

"Y-Yeah, bye…", she mumbled. "Eh? No I wasn't talking to you, Luna!" As she listened to her sister, her eyes wandered around the kitchen as they stuck upon the brown furry coat Julius always wore. Seemed like he forgot to take it with him.

_This is bad. This is bad. This is BAD!_

Ignoring his environment he stormed off to Flute Fields. _I don't have time for this! And she is weird! A weird, small, lovely girl… No, scratch that last adjective! She is just lovely because she looks so much like Shelly and who would not describe the old lady as lovely? Yeah, yeah that's it. _

"Yo, bro. Where are you going?" The familiar voice of a familiar blue-haired carpenter pulled him back to reality.

"None of your business, wood kid!", he snapped and passed him by.

"Man, no need to get all jumpy", Luke frowned and rested his axe on his shoulder. Looking to the left, he saw a small girl with light blue hair running towards him.

"D-Did you see Julius?", she stuttered holding a coat in her hands.

"Yeah, he just passed by. What'cha doing with that coat?"

"He… left it in our kitchen", she mumbled and hoped that the young man wouldn't understand her. But unfortunately, he got used to the calm voice of the girl.

"Eh?", he said raising both of his eyebrows in surprise. "That's not fair. You didn't invite me to your party!" he thought about it. "Maybe I should just finish your grandma's order already. She must be quite furious at me to make her wait like this." He scratched his chin nervously. Candace wasn't sure if her grandmother could actually be mad at any person. She was an understanding, charming person who always looked out for others.

Being deep in thoughts, Candace loosened her grip and as a strong breeze hit her face she could see the coat flying up in the air.

"No!", she called, trying to grab after it but she was too short to reach it. Even Luke who was taller than her tried to catch it but the coat smoothly flew all the way over to the deep and dark forest called 'Fugue Forest'.

Without hesitating, Candace quickly ran after the coat ignoring Luke's warnings.

"Wait!", he yelled. "It's dangerous to go alone!" He quickly dropped his axe and ran after her.

Not a minute passed after she entered the deep forest that she actually lost sight of the coat and herself. She totally got lost. Thousands of trees seemed to form around her and each and every way looked exactly the same. No birds sang in the crown of the dark green trees, no ray of light seemed to pass through the tight net of leaves. It was as if somebody turn off the light in this forest.

_It's so dark… I can barely see my own feet. If I didn't daydream this would have never happened in the first place!_

Her eyes got all misty. _I'm going to die!_ Technically, she wouldn't die. There was plenty of mushrooms she could eat (she could even distinguish between harmless and poison), there was of course enough wood for her to make a fire and a small stream curled its way through the forest. Also there were no bears, wolves or anything to be afraid of inside the forest but Candace ran herself too deep into panic to be able to think logical.

And then it happened. Suddenly the earth under her feet gave in and with a loud scream she fell down a huge hole.

Well, now she could actually die out there.

She tried to stand up but the fall twisted her ankle and a sharp pain made her fall backwards again. Tears ran down her face as she tried to stand up once more but it was no use. The pain tied her to the ground.

"Candace!" A loud voice reached her ears. "Candace, where are you?"

_Luke!_ She opened her mouth and called after him.

"I'm here! I'm here in this hole!", she cried wiping the tears off her face. Finally the head of the blue-haired guy showed up above the hole and Candace could see relief in his golden eyes. "Here take my hand!" He reached out for her but Candace couldn't stand up.

"I hurt my ankle", she said. "I can't reach you."

"Darn", he mumbled looking around for something like a rope. "Wait a minute, I'll go and get help"

"No!", she cried. "Don't leave me alone!" Panic was written all over her face and Luke couldn't just run away anymore. He was trapped in her eyes.

"Okay, okay. I'll think of something else. Just wait a minute, I'll be right back!" Then his head disappeared and Candace only got more afraid.

_He's going to let me stay behind! I will die out here!_

"Here, found something!", Luke called and bend over the hole once again. He let something big and brown down but Candace couldn't figure out what it was. Honestly, it didn't matter to her right now. Even if it was a snake she would grab after it only to get out of this hole. Due to her being small-sized it was a piece of cake for Luke to pull her up again. As she felt earth under her hands again, Candace gave in and fell on her knees. Luke fell on his butt leaning on his arms.

"Man that gave me a shock!", he sighed as he suddenly felt a body clinging to him.

"I was so scared!", Candace cried as she hugged him. She buried her face into his shoulder. The girl totally lost her nerves. "I thought you would leave me alone and let me die out here!"

"Nah", laughed Luke awkwardly. He was surprised by the sudden body contact with the small girl. Something that he never expected her to do. But looking to the confused little girl he could understand the sudden outburst of her emotions.

"I'm sorry!", sobbed she. "I've wronged you!"

"Nah, it's okay", he tried to comfort her. "Let's just give Julius his coat back."

"But I didn't find it!" She pulled herself back from embracing the carpenter. "I-I searched for it everywhere b-but I just couldn't fi-find it." She hiccupped while speaking soaking in the cold air.

"But I did!", Luke grinned and hold up the brown thing he used to pull Candace out of her hole.

* * *

"Oh my god! What happened?", asked Julius as he watched the small tailor covered in mud and scratches. The carpenter seemed to look better, only having a small scratch on his nose. "Did he push you?"

"I didn't do anything like this!", Luke pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Y-Your coat", mumbled Candace and gave the wet, dirty and ripped off coat back to its owner.

"Okay, listen. Before you say anything you have to know that Candace nearly broke a leg to get it back. Okay, she might have lost it to begin with but it's also your fault for forgetting it at her place!" The words poured out of Luke's mouth like a waterfall.

"You broke your leg?", Julius gasped.

"_Nearly"_, corrected Luke. "I just said _nearly_."

"I-I'm sorry!", apologized the small girl and bowed down. "I'm going to fix it!" She snatched the coat away from him and ran back to Harmonica Town. Luke and Julius watcher the small girl nearly tripping over her own feet as she ran away.

"So", Julius began eyes never leaving the small figure of the tailor. "What exactly happened at Fugue Forest?" His eyes narrowed and he carefully observed the carpenter from the corner of his eyes.

"Well", began Luke and scratched his chin as the heat crawled up his face.

_Interesting._ Julius couldn't fight that feeling back that rose inside his body and took over the control of his mind. It was as if something burned his throat.

Luke smiled shyly. "I-I lost my axe over there. Maybe I should pick it up before somebody trips over it." With that he ran off leaving a jealous Julius behind.

* * *

"Morning, Julius!", greeted Shelly the young man as she swept the dust off the door sill. "You're quite early today. I'm not sure if Candace is up yet. Though I told her to go sleep she put an all-nighter mumbling something about clearing a debt. Why don't you just go and wait for her in the kitchen?"

_An all-nighter?_

Julius went straight into the shop but did not stop as he stood in the kitchen. He knew that it was rude to intrude her room like this but once his mind settled an idea it was hard to remove it. So he straight opened the door to her room to see a sleeping girl sitting at a desk. Her head lay upon his coat, one hand still holding onto a needle. He stepped forward to look over her shoulder.

"At least she can sew properly", he smirked as he looked upon the perfect stitches she made. The coat nearly looked as if it was brand new. His eyes met a little flower pattern on the chest of the coat. The gap must have been too big for her to cover it like that. A small sapphire blue flower was sewed neatly over the gap giving it the image of a flower in a lapel.

"Airhead", he whispered with a pretty smile on his red lips. His eyes narrowed to a caring gaze making his eyes appear like rubies. Quietly he stuck a loose stray of hair behind her ear.

* * *

**So many cute scenes! And I still don't know who she ends up with... or do I? *evil grin***

**Luna: And don't forget about me! I want to take part in the plot! It's about time, duh!**

**Me: Yeah, yeah. Just go and study.**

**Candace: Thank you for reading this chapter! *bows down politely***


End file.
